Leaps and Bounds and Crawls...

It's been way too long since we've posted good news on here, so I promise photos soon.

Life just seems so busy lately, and Casey is 99% of that busy-ness. Particularly, she's CRAWLING!

Casey and I ventured to New Hampshire last Sunday (Casey's very first plane ride!) to visit with my sister and her family (of one husband and four kids). It was on Tuesday, after watching her older cousins zip, zoom, and crawl (or Violet's version of crawling, that is) around her, that Casey, alone in the living room, began crawling. And it's true, perfect crawling. One knee in front of the other, and hands moving forward to match. She was tentative that morning, but gained a lot of confidence by the time we flew back to Philadelphia late Wednesday. (Tee Jay had quite the show in store for him when I set her down on our living room floor!)

Ever since, Casey's been unstoppable. And we learned, after a mere couple of hours, that our house... well, it ain't ours anymore. Baby-proofing, MAJOR baby-proofing, is in order. (I guess I hadn't noticed the need as much at my sister's home, where after having four kids, she and my brother-in-law have set their rooms up so that everything is open and available to children of all ages.)

We've also learned that Casey's noggin is going to have to get very used to bumps along the way. Man, she's a brute, and she's constantly knocking her poor little head on things now.

In more news, Casey came home from New Hampshire with another tooth - or maybe got it the day after we arrived back in Philly. (It's hard to tell, since she guards her gums like Fort Knox. Even Mama and Daddy aren't usually granted viewing privileges.) This one is on the bottom, and I thankfully haven't been bitten yet, though I am afraid it may be in my future.

And since her growth seems to be happening in leaps and bounds, I guess it's finally time for Casey's first "cold" (or whatever it is) to manifest itself. We noticed last night that instead of a peacefully sleeping baby girl, her bedroom was housing a barking seal. Ahhhhh, the horrible (and most uneasy, to new parents) sound of croup. While I nursed Casey, Tee grabbed Dr. Sears' The Baby Book, and in the dim light of our bedroom, we discovered that there's really not much a doctor could do at this point. We ramped up the warm mist vaporizing, let Casey sleep in our bed (even though we've been warned by seasoned parents that this should be a "no no"), and gave her the almighty pacifier (a.k.a. Mom's breasts) throughout the night. She did TOTALLY fine (whew!) and she is her happy, adorable self during the daytime, but we know that croup can often sound its worse during the second and third nights... here we go! (We started this evening with a steamy nap in the bathroom while a hot shower ran - and we'll follow up with plenty of vaporizing and will check in on Casey periodically throughout the night.)

Casey is also becoming cognitive of the word "NO." And boy, she doesn't like it! Just a few minutes ago, she was going towards the cord of our laptop, and both Tee Jay and I sternly, slowly expressed our displeasure. We didn't raise our voices, but clearly looked at her and said, "Noooooo. No, Casey. NO." She sat very still, stared at us, and let her sweet smile slowly turn downwards into a definite frown. The crying followed quickly after, and I couldn't help but laugh while I scooped her up in my arms. I was so proud that Casey understands us... yahoo to having a genius-child! (Don't mock me - I'm sure she's a genius, okay????)